The Construction of Happiness among Rural Javanese Muslims
Main Article Content
Abstract
Happiness is not a fixed entity but rather constructed by the individuals in their interaction with society. Happiness has been explored by religion, philosophy, and various academic disciplines, however, these concepts are constructed by the individuals following their respective contexts. Individuals’ understanding of happiness varies due to their unique circumstances. Therefore, it becomes important to study the concept of happiness that exists in society. This study is a qualitative field study. The respondents consisted of twelve individuals who are graduates of Islamic schools (madrasah) or Islamic boarding schools (pesantren) who work as teachers, traders, or farmers in Kediri Regency, East Java, Indonesia. Data collection methods which have been used in this study are documentation and in-depth interviews. The findings of the study show that respondents generally perceive happiness as a state of peaceful and contented mind due to the fulfilment of physical and spiritual needs accompanied by gratitude to God. In line with their views, their orientation towards happiness is generally religious or spiritual. For them, genuine happiness can be achieved when they can perform religious rituals and become closer to God. To attain genuine happiness, their religious or spiritual needs and desires must be fulfilled. However, they also do not have the same orientation towards happiness. The religious doctrines of happiness acquired from the madrasah or the pesantren seem to be maintained, although there are slight differences among the respondents. This indicates that their understanding of happiness is a construct based on the doctrines they have learned and their individual experiences over time.
Downloads
Article Details
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Licensing
© The Author(s). Published by Department of Aqidah and Islamic Philosophy, Faculty of Ushuluddin and Philosophy, Sunan Ampel State Islamic University Surabaya, Indonesia.
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0).
References
Allport, Gordon W. Pattern and Growth in Personality. Oxford, England: Holt, Reinhart & Winston, 1961.
Badawi, Abdurrahman. “Miskawaih,” in A History of Muslim Philoshophy, ed. M.M. Sharif. New Delhi: Low Price Publication, 1961.
Bronfenbrenner, Urie. “Ecological Models of Human Development,” in International Encyclopedia of Education. Oxford: Elsevier, 1994. https://www.ncj.nl/wp-content/uploads/media-import/docs/6a45c1a4-82ad-4f69-957e-1c76966678e2.pdf.
Christopher, John Chambers and Hickinbottom, Sarah. “Positive Psychology, Ethnocentrism, and the Disguised Ideology of Individualism,” Theory & Psychology 18, no. 5, October 1, 2008. https://doi.org/10.1177/0959354308093396.
Clark, Andrew E. and Senik-Leygonie, Claudia. Happiness and Economic Growth: Lessons from Developing Countries. Oxford University Press, 2014.
Csikszentmihalyi, Mihaly and Patton, John D. “Le Bonheur, l’expérience Optimale et Les Valeurs Spirituelles: Une Étude Empirique Auprès d’adolescents,” Revue Québécoise de Psychologie 18, no. 2, 1997.
Deci, Edward L., and Ryan, Richard M. “Hedonia, Eudaimonia, and Well-Being: An Introduction,” Journal of Happiness Studies 9, no. 1, January 1, 2008. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-006-9018-1.
Domsel, Maike Maria. “Drifting away from Religion? A Perspective from German Teacher Education.” IJoReSH: Indonesian Journal of Religion, Spirituality, and Humanity 1, no. 2, 2022. https://doi.org/10.18326/ijoresh.v1i2.123-145
Easterlin, Richard A. “Does Economic Growth Improve the Human Lot? Some Empirical Evidence,” in Nations and Households in Economic Growth, ed. Paul A. David and Melvin W. Reder. Academic Press, 1974. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-205050-3.50008-7.
Emmons, Robert A. “Religion in the Psychology of Personality: An Introduction,” Journal of Personality 67, no. 6, 1999. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-6494.00076.
Fave, Antonella Delle et al. “The Eudaimonic and Hedonic Components of Happiness: Qualitative and Quantitative Findings,” Social Indicators Research 100, no. 2, January 1, 2011. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-010-9632-5.
Frey, Bruno S. and Stutzer, Alois. “Happiness and Public Choice,” Public Choice 144, no. 3, September 1, 2010. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11127-010-9681-y.
Hardianti, Rani., Erika Erika, and Fathra Annis Nauli. “Hubungan Antara Rasa Syukur terhadap Kesehatan Mental Remaja di SMA Negeri 8 Pekanbaru,” Jurnal Ners Indonesia 11, no. 2, March 31, 2021. https://doi.org/10.31258/jni.11.2.215-227.
Huang, Peter H. “Authentic Happiness, Self-Knowledge and Legal Policy,” Minnesota Journal of Law, Science & Technology 9, 2008.
Huppert, F. A. et al. “The Social Context of Well–Being,” Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences 359, no. 1449, September 29, 2004. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2004.1522.
Ilmi, L. U. “Unsur-Unsur Tahdzīb al-Akhlāq Karya Ibnu Miskawaih Pada Bimbingan Konseling Permendiknas”. Undergraduate Thesis, Semarang, Universitas Islam Negeri (UIN) Walisongo Semarang, 2018.
Iverson, Roderick D. and Catherine Maguire, “The Relationship between Job and Life Satisfaction: Evidence from a Remote Mining Community,” Human Relations 53, no. 6, June 1, 2000. https://doi.org/10.1177/0018726700536003.
Joshanloo, Mohsen. “A Comparison of Western and Islamic Conceptions of Happiness,” Journal of Happiness Studies 14, no. 6, December 1, 2013. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-012-9406-7.
Kahneman, Daniel. “Objective Happiness,” in Well-Being: The Foundations of Hedonic Psychology, ed. Daniel Kahneman, E. Diener, and N. Schwarz. New York, NY, US: Russell Sage Foundation, 1999.
Koenig, Harold G., David B. Larson, and Susan S. Larson. “Religion and Coping with Serious Medical Illness,” Annals of Pharmacotherapy 35, no. 3, March 1, 2001. https://doi.org/10.1345/aph.10215.
Larsen, Randy J. and M. Eid, The Science of Subjective Well-Being, ed. M. Eid and Randy J. Larsen. New York: Guilford Press, 2008.
Maham, Raj and Omar Khalid Bhatti. “Impact of Taqwa (Islamic Piety) on Employee Happiness: A Study of Pakistan’s Banking Sector,” ed. Md. Mahmudul Alam, Cogent Business & Management 6, no. 1, January 1, 2019. https://doi.org/10.1080/23311975.2019.1678554.
Narasimhan, Pavithra Lakshmi, and Heru Saputra. “Contriving Emotional Resilience through Spirituality in the Light of Vedanta.” IJoReSH: Indonesian Journal of Religion, Spirituality, and Humanity 2, no. 1, 2023. https://doi.org/10.18326/ijoresh.v2i1.1-21
Panjaitan, Marojahan JS. “Legal Politics to Build a State of Happiness: An Idea in a State Based on the 1945 Constitution,” International Journal of Criminology and Sociology 10, February 3, 2021. https://doi.org/10.6000/1929-4409.2021.10.57.
Peterson, Christopher and Martin E. P. Seligman. Character Strengths and Virtues: A Handbook and Classification. New York: American Psychological Association, 2004.
Rahayu, Theresia Puji. “Determinan Kebahagiaan di Indonesia,” Jurnal Ekonomi dan Bisnis 19, no. 1, August 1, 2016. https://doi.org/10.24914/jeb.v19i1.485.
Robinson, Katie., Norelee Kennedy, and Dominic Harmon. “Happiness: A Review of Evidence Relevant to Occupational Science,” Journal of Occupational Science 19, no. 2, 2012. https://doi.org/10.1080/14427591.2011.634780.
Rodríguez-Hernández, Gabriela. “The Eudemonic and Hedonic Role of Happiness in a Population with High Levels of Life Satisfaction / El Rol Eudemónico y Hedónico de La Felicidad En Una Población Con Altos Niveles de Satisfacción Con La Vida,” Revista de Psicologia Social 0, no. 0, 2019. https://doi.org/10.1080/02134748.2019.1576323.
Rosmarin, David H. and Koenig, Harold G. Handbook of Spirituality, Religion, and Mental Health. Academic Press, 2020.
Rusdiana, Ika. “Konsep Authentic Happiness pada Remaja dalam Perspektif Teori Myers,” Ibriez: Jurnal Kependidikan Dasar Islam Berbasis Sains 2, no. 1, June 20, 2017. https://doi.org/10.21154/ibriez.v2i1.23.
Sarmadi, Sunedi. Psikologi Positif. Yogyakarta: Titah Surga, 2018.
Scoffham, Stephen and Jonathan Barnes. “Happiness Matters: Towards a Pedagogy of Happiness and Well-Being,” Curriculum Journal 22, no. 4, 2011. https://doi.org/10.1080/09585176.2011.627214.
Seligman, Martin E. P. Authentic Happiness: Using the New Positive Psychology to Realize Your Potential for Lasting Fulfillment. New York: Simon and Schuster, 2002.
Sheldon, Kennon M. and Sonja Lyubomirsky. “Is It Possible to Become Happier? (And If So, How?),” Social and Personality Psychology Compass 1, no. 1, 2007. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1751-9004.2007.00002.x.
Sofia, Nanum and Endah Puspita Sari. “Indikator Kebahagiaan (Al-Sa’adah) dalam Perspektif Alquran dan Hadis,” Psikologika: Jurnal Pemikiran dan Penelitian Psikologi 23, no. 2, 2018. https://doi.org/10.20885/psikologika.vol23.iss2.art2.
Sumner, L. W. Welfare, Happiness, and Ethics. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1996.
Tanzer, Joshua Ray. “Developing Authentic Happiness: Growth Curve Models to Assess Lifelong Happiness,” Journal of Positive Psychology 00, no. 00, 2019. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2019.1689419.
Tjaturrini, Dyah., Chendy Arieshanty, Tri Asiati, Henggar Prasetyowati, and Zuyinatul Isro. “Calengsai and the Intimate Communications among Faith Believers.” IJoReSH: Indonesian Journal of Religion, Spirituality, and Humanity 1, no. 2, 2022. https://doi.org/10.18326/ijoresh.v1i2.215-240
Veenhoven, Ruut. “The Utility of Happiness,” Social Indicators Research 20, no. 4, August 1, 1988. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00302332.
Waterman, Alan S. “Reconsidering Happiness: A Eudaimonist’s Perspective,” The Journal of Positive Psychology 3, no. 4, October 1, 2008. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760802303002.
Widodo, Aris., Akh Kholis Hayatuddin, and Cintami Farmawati. “Stations (Maqamat) and States (Ahwal) in the Context of Humanity Studies: Dialogical Encounter of Spirituality and the Psychology of Religion.” IJoReSH: Indonesian Journal of Religion, Spirituality, and Humanity 2, no. 1, 2023. https://doi.org/10.18326/ijoresh.v2i1.22-42.